ERIS
The silence following my question was not merely an absence of sound; it was a physical pressure, the kind that precedes the collapse of a mountain. In the realm of Pyronox, where every blossom and every prism of light was a reflection of his will, the world itself seemed to hold its breath.
"What if," I repeated, my voice steady despite the way my heart hammered against my ribs. "What if Aenithra is on her way to fulfilling her promise to you? What if she's not gone? What if she's closer than you've allowed yourself to believe?"
I watched his eyes. Those amber depths, usually swirling with the slow, molten heat of centuries, suddenly shifted.
A new light sparked there, a raw, terrifying vulnerability that I had never seen in all our encounters. It was a dragon wanting to believe in a miracle.
